Strainer assembly



May 4, 1954 c. J. MEYER 2,677,465

STRAINER ASSEMBLY Filed sept. 7, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 5g (20 QIIV205/133 JNVENTOR: n lllllmllll" j @i TTRNEYS.

May 4, 1954 c. J. MEYER 2,677,465

STRAINER ASSEMBLY Filed sept. 7, 1951 2 sheets-sheet z ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 4, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT DFFICE STRAINER ASSEMBLYClarence J. Meyer, St. Olaf, owa

Application September 7, 1951, Serial No. 245,521

1 claim. 1

My invention relates to a strainer assembly, and more particularly to astrainer assembly which is adapted both for straining liquids directlyinto containers and for straining them into pipe lines. My strainerassembly has particular utility in connection with the straining ofmilk.

It is of utmost importance in the handling of milk to maintain theequipment employed in a ciean and sanitary condition. IThis requirementhas presented a problem in the use of milk strainers, since it isnecessary to assemble and disassemble the strainer each time that it isused to permit washing of the strainer elements, and the insertion of afresh filtering disk. Heretofore, these assembly and disassemblyoperations have been relatively time consuming, 1n most of the presentlyused milk strainers, a filtering disk is secured. between clampingmembers across the outlet of the strainer, and it is necessary to turnthe clamping members relative to each other to secure the disk inposition. It is desired that the nltering disk be held in a iiat,wrinkle-free condition against the disk supporting member, and that theperiphery of the disk be clamped tightly enough between the members toprovide a liquid-tight seal entirely around the disk to preventby-passing or leaking of the milk. Many of the dimculties connected withthe assembly of milk strainers have been connected with the securing ofthe nltering disk in this manner. Because of the difficulty of applyingsufficient turning force to the clamping members, it has been necessaryto provide special types of disk constructions and to adapt the clampingmembers in various ways so that the disk is held ilat while the straineris inverted during the assembly operation and so that a liquid-tightseal is obtained even though it is possible to apply only a small amountof turning force to the clamping members. The use of cooperating threadson the clamping members has presented a problem in this connection,since, although it is desired to employ threads on the members becauseof their durability, etc., the use of threads has not been practical inconjunction with the use of a simple nat-type filtering disk because ofthe idifculty of applying sufiicient Vturning force to the members toclamp the edges of the iiltering disk theresetween in a| liquid-tightmanner.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a milk strainerwhich is adapted to facilitate the assembling and disassembling of theparts so that all of the required operations can be performed bothconveniently yand rapidly. More speciiically, it is an object ofmyinvention to provide a milk strainer which can be assembled in anupright position so that prior to being clamped in position thenltering` disk will lie flat on its supporting plate, and so that noupper plate will be required to hold the ltering 4disk in place. Also,it is an object of my invention to provide a novel means for applyingturning force to the clamping members whereby a relatively great amountof leverage can be obtained so that the clamping members can be threadedier convenient and rapid assembly, While making possible the bringing ofthe clamping members together with suiiicient force to obtain aliquid-tight seal between these members and the eriphery of a flatfiltering disk. It is a still further object oi' my invention to providea strainer which is adapted for attachment to a pipe line by having thedisk support plate separately formed from the cap member to permit theinsertion of a funnel flange between the cap and the plate. Furtherobjects and advantages will appear as the specication proceeds.

My invention is shown in an illustrative embodiment in the accompanyingdrawing in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a strainer embodyingthe features of my invention and showing particularly the legs extendingdownwardly from the bottom of the cap member for holding the cap memberin a fixed position while turning force is being applied to the casing;Fig. 2, a plan view of a wrench plate for use in assembling anddisassembling the milk strainer of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a side elevationalView of the Wrench plate of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a fragmentary perspectiveView of the structure of Fig. 1 showing the parts in separated relation;Fig. 5, a cross sectional View of the lower portion of the strainer ofFig. 1 showing the parts in assembled relation; Fig. `6, a perspectiveView similar to Fig. l showing a modified strainer assembly attached toa pipe line by means of a funnel; Fig. 7 a fragmentary perspective viewof the main parts of the structure of Fig. G showing these parts inseparated relation; Fig. 8, a cross sectional View showing the parts ofFig. 7 in assembled relation; Fig. 9, a detail sectional view of thering and funnel or" Fig. 8 with the other parts removed showing theinterlocking of these parts when assembled; and Fig; l0, a perspectiveview of a modincation of the ring of Figs. 1, 4 and 5.

ln the illustration given, a milk strainer is shown having a casing iiiproviding a bowl portion il with an. inlet i?) .in the top and an outleti3 in the bottom. An annular neck i4 equipped externally with threadsI5, which are preferably of the half or broken thread type, is providedabout outlet I3. Preferably, neck portion It is of reduced diameter frombowl portion il and is connected thereto by an inwardly tapering portionI5. If desired, casing III can be equipped with suitable handles I1.

A cap or ring member I8 is received on neck I4 in threaded engagementtherewith and is equipped with an annular ange ma extending inwardlyfrom cap i8 below the lower end oi neck It. It will be understood thatring I8 and cap I4 will be caused to move relative to each other whenone member is held stationary and turning force is applied to the othermember. To facilitate the application of this turning force, cap I8 isprovided with depending leg means, which can be of any suitableconstruction for supporting the strainer and for cooperating with alocking means to hold ring I8 stationary on a horizontal surface whileturning force is applied to casing il. In the illustration given, cap I3is provided with three short legs I8 which extend downwardly in spacedapart relation from flange ida. It will be apparent that more than threelegs can be employed, although three legs are preferred since theyprovide a stable support for the strainer and prevent it from tippingduring the assembly operation. The function of legs i9 will besubsequently described in detail.

A separate multi-perforated plate 2S is adapted to be supported by angeISu and has imperiorate edge portions 2da lying beneath the lower end ofneck Id., as shown more clearly in Fig. 5. A filtering disk 2l, whichcan be of any suitable construction, is supported on plate 25B with itsperiphery extending outwardly beyond the lower edge of neck I4. Withthis arrangement, the tightening of ring I8 on neck I4 will clamp disk2I between the lower end of neck lli and perforated plate 2G.

To assist in clamping the members together, I prefer to employ a wrenchplate 22, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Wrench plate 22 is anchored. to ahorizontal surface, by any suitable means. If desired, plate 22 can beequipped with apertures 23 to assist in anchoring the plate by means ofnails, bolts, etc. In the illustration given and preferably, plate 22 isprovided with two parallel ridges 2li spaced apart so as to just liebetween legs IS, as indicated in Fig. 2. Thus, ridges 2li will cooperatewith legs I8 in holding ring I8 stationary and in an upright positionfor the assembling and disassembling of the milk strainer. Y

In Figs. 6 to 9 there is shown a inodiiication of the strainer of Fig. l(tapered portion is omitted) adapted for attachment to a pipe line. Inthe illustration given, there is shown a pipe line 25 which is rigidlysupported by bracket 2E. On the upper end of pipe 25 there is mountedfunnel 2l which has its lower end adapted to be threadedly connected topipe 25. Preferably, funnel 21 is provided at its top with an out wardlyextending annular ange Z'ic, as seen more clearly in Fig. 1. To permitthe attachment of the strainer to funnel 21 while the parts of thestrainer are in assembled relation, it is desirable to have the diameterof flange Ela slightly smaller than the inside diameter of neck flangeIa.

To provide for the interlocking of funnel 2l and ring I8, funnel ilange2in. can be provided with spaced ears 2lb, and ring I8 can be providedwith correspondingly spaced notches Ill'b.

Thus, ring I8 can be pushed downwardly over funnel 21 by aligningnotches I8b with ears 21h to limit the turning of ring I8 relative tofunnel 2l and to provide for the interlocking of these members, ears2122 can be provided at one end with stop lugs 21o for engaging the endsof notches |817. When the strainer is to be attached to a pipe line, itis also desirable to provide a resilient washer 28 to rest on top ofannular ilange 21a and against plate 20, as shown more clearly in Fig.8.

In Fig. 10, there is shown a modification of ring I8 in which the ringis equipped with oppositely disposed laterally extending turning pins 29which are adapted to be used in clamping I8 on neck I4. With thisstructure ring i8 need not be provided with notches lh and can belowered about funnel 21 and pipe 25 to rest on support arm 26 indisassembling the members.

Operation In using my strainer, I prefer to anchor plate 22 to aconvenient horizontal sur area in which it is desired to assemble n.l dassemble the strainer. Ring I8 can then be placed on top of plate 22with legs I9 straddling 2li in the manner shown in Fig. 2. In this p cition, ridges 24 and legs I8 cooperate to hold ring i8 in a fixedposition on plate 22 during sembly operation. Perforated plate is nentplaced within. ring I8 upon lange ille. It will be noted that the legsI9 support ring it well above the surface of plate 22 so that there isno danger of contacting plate 2i) therewith after it is inserted in ringI8.

The next step is the placing of iiltering disk 2l on top of plate 28.Casing I! can then be lifted bodily by handles I1 and held in an uprightposition over ring i8 for the insertion of neck i4 within ring I8. Bothhands of the user can employed for applying the turning force to the topoi' casing I0 to screw neck I4 into ring iii until disk 2| has its outeredges tightly clamped between the lower end of neck Id and the imporforate portion 20a of plate 28. It will be noted that during theclamping of ltering disk El it is allowed to rest on plate 28, and thereis therefore no tendency for it to wrinkle or to separate .from plate2D.

When my strainer is adapted for attachment to a pipe line as illustratedin Figs. 6 to 9, ring I9, plate 20, disk 2I, and casing I0 can beassembled on wrench plate 22 exactly as described above, except that theparts are left in loose engagement so that plate 20 can be movedupwardly a short distance from flange I8a. The assembled strainer canthen be lifted from wrench plate 22 and brought above the top of funnel21 with notches ISI) in alignment with ears 2112. It will be understoodthat funnel 21 has previously been attached to the upper end of arigidly supported pipe line 25, as shown in Fig. 6. The strainer is thenpushed downwardly so that funnel 21 moves plate 2B upwardly to theposition shown in Fig. 8. Casing I0 is then rotated in the directionrequired for tightening ring I8 on neck I4. rI'his causes ring I8 to beturned with respect to funnel 21 so that ears 21h are brought above theportions of liange I8a between notches I8b, and stop lugs 21o areengaged with the ends of notches i829. This prevents further rotation ofring I8 with respect to funnel 21 so that the further turning of casingI0 brings about the tightening of ring I8 on neck I4 until disk 2I istightly clamped between the lower end of neck I4 and plate 20.

If desired, a resilient washer 28 can be placed on top of funnel flange21a prior to the lowering of the strainer onto the funnel so that aliquidtight seal will be provided between plate 28 and flange 21a, asshown in Fig. 8.

In disassembling my strainer, 1 have also found it convenient to employwrench plate 22. The assembled strainer, as shown in Fig. 1, can beplaced on the wrench plate with the legs in the position indicated inFig. 2, and turning force applied by the hands to casing lI to loosenring I8 on neck I d. If desired, the parts can be completely separatedby the use of wrench plate 22, or the strainer can be inverted and ringI8 unscrewed by hand. When the strainer is attached to a pipe line, asshown in Fig. 5, it is only necessary to apply turning force in aloosening direction to casing lil to bring ears 2lb back into alignmentwith notches |822. The strainer can then be disengaged from funnel 21and placed on wrench plate 22 to complete the separation of the parts inthe manner previously indicated.

Although in describing the assembly and disassembly steps it may appearthat these steps reduire considerable time, in actual practice thestrainer can be assembled and disassembled with great rapidity.

I wish it to be particularly understood that while the strainer assemblyof my invention has particular utility in connection with the strainingof milk that it can also advantageously be used for the straining ofmany other liquids either directly into containers or into pipe lines.For some applications, it may be desirable to pump the liquid into bowlportion I I with considerable force which therefore might have atendency to damage filtering disk 2l. Therefore, if desired, amultiperforated plate such as plate 20 or similar member can bepositioned above pad ZI and clamped between neck I4 and ring I8 toprotect disk 2|.

While in the foregoing specication I have described a strainer embodyingmy invention in considerable detail for purpose of illustration, it

will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many of the detailscan be varied widely without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

A strainer, comprising a casing providing a bowl with an inlet in thetop and an outlet in the bottom and having an annular neck about saidoutlet, a ring received on said neck in threaded engagement therewithand equipped with an annular ange extending inwardly therefrom below thelower end of said neck, said neck flange having spaced notches at theouter edge thereof, a funnel with an annular flange extending outwardlyfrom the top thereof of slightly smaller outside diameter than theinside diameter of said neck flange, said funnel ange being equippedwith spaced ears extending outwardly from its periphery and arranged tobe inserted through said neck flange notches and rotated over theportions of said neck flange between said notches for securing saidfunnel to said strainer, said funnel and said ring having cooperatingstop means arranged to stop the turning of said funnel with respect tosaid ring after said ears have been turned over the portions betweensaid notches, and a filtering disk is clamped between said plate and thelower end of said neck.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 65,515 Spencer June 4, 1867 593,834. Chambers Nov. 16, 1897674,530 Wilcox May 21, 1901 1,015,946 Ebner Jan, 30, 1912 1,134,837 FoxApr. 6, 1915 1,820,610 Eves Aug. 25, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number CountryDate 238,803 Great Britain Aug. 27, 1925 241,393 Great Britain Oct. 22,1925

